It's been another very busy year at Hillandale!
Hilary and Robin have been fully occupied with looking after visitors and farm affairs with their usual flair and energy. That means newsletters sometimes remain on the to-do list much longer than intended. Surely this is a situation familiar to many of us: we're keen to share our news with family and friends but it's hard to find time enough for writing!
Meanwhile, this page shows some of the highlights from 2003, collected by web-editor Jules.
There was great excitement in late April with the birth of Gayle and Hermann's son, Neil. The photos at the left were taken in mid May, when Hilary's description of the new baby was " absolutely gorgeous, he now weighs over 4kgs and is ever so cuddly!"
The new baby is Gayle and Hermann's first child, and he is Robin and Hilary's first grandchild.
Congratulations all round!
Below are some photos received from Paul, which confirm that Robin and Hilary do - just occasionally - escape briefly from the 7-days-a-week demands of farm work.
This year they got away for a couple of short trips, early and late in the year, together with some of their like-minded cousins.
As you can see, the "cuzzies" share a taste for the wide open spaces of the Karoo and camp-fire dinners. And they know how to make the most of fresh water streams, rather rare in this very arid part of the world.
